Couldn't Wait to Tell You about #ConsciousBox #Giveaway

As a product reviewer, there is nothing I like more than coming home to a delightful surprise in my mailbox.  Its like a small glimpse of Christmas morning as I'm pulling in the drive at the end of a long day.  Despite this insanely gray winter, surprises in the mail are my little rays of sunshine that lift the soul.

That's probably one of the biggest reasons I am so glad to bring you a review and giveaway from Conscious Box. Conscious Box is a subscription based service that once a month delivers to your door a little ray of sunshine.  Their box made of recycled materials is crammed full of the "purest, most natural products on the planet." 
Get New Eco-Friendly Products Delivered Right to Your Door! You can subscribe for one month, three months (you could win 3 months below!), six months or even a year.  I happened to get a Classic Box, but you can also select a Vegan or Gluten Free box. Each month of your subscription, Conscious Box will deliver new, exciting and earth friendly products to your door step.

I received a free box to try this month.  I could hardly wait for it to arrive!  Inside my box I found 2 Two Degrees quinoa, chia and millet bars which really look scrumptious. I also found a 1 day adult and 1 day kid smarty pants gummy vitamin supplement.  I am excited by the OldeMan Granola that genuinely  looks like granola that I would have made. My husband tried the Zarbee's All natural cough syrup, which seems to be predominately comprised of dark honey. For the tea drinker, there are multiple packets, and Nektar honey crystals--which sounds like a fascinating way to travel with honey. There's also a bottle of wheatgrass boost--which looks a little like 5 hour energy for the green crowd -- I don't think it makes the same 5 hour energy claims. The small tube of Motherlove diaper rash cream looks like it should be cloth diaper okay, so that's always something good to have on hand. 

The last product, I'm really not sure about.... it's a box of disposable iPhone sleeves. It's from a company called chef sleeve, and the idea is you wrap your phone in these protective sleeves while cooking so you can still access the recipe on your phone, without caking it in flour.  I get the concept, and truth be told, if the sent one for iPads, while I might not use it for cooking, I so would use it to guard the screen against Peanut.  Honestly, you have no idea how embarrassing it is to go to work with all of the grime Little Man gets all over the screen--I don't know how he does it.  HOWEVER, I was a little taken aback by this selection... most of the products were organic, eco-packaged.... Even though it's recyclable--it's still a throwaway product.  The packaging doesn't make clear what number plastic it is, so I'm not even sure if my city can recycle this product... Jury is still out on this.  But that's just me, and this was only one month's box.  Next month may have an even bigger and better haul of treasures.

Overall, for someone who doesn't have a Whole Foods in her neighborhood, I feel that the box provides a good way to trial some of the products I browse on the shelf, but might be shy to commit to.  I happen to appreciate that many of the products in the box I received are also made in the US. 

Want to give conscious box a try for your self?  Head over to their website now!  Use promocode: DISCOVERNATURAL and receive 50% off any subscription!  Wouldn't this be a great Earth Day/Mothers Day gift for that hard to buy for someone?

Half off is pretty good, but FREE is definitely better.  Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter for your chance to win a free 3 month conscious box subscription--that's a $59 value!

This was not a paid post. I received the product mentioned above in exchange for my honest opinion. The opinions are solely my own. Thank you to Conscious Box who supplied the product for review and giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get Earth Day Friendly with Roaring Spring Paper Products from #Shopletreviews

I have again been blessed with another perfect selection of products from Shoplet.com  This shipment included a bundle of great eco-friendly paper notebooks and note pads  from Roaring Spring.  Included were the College Ruled Landscape Format writing pad, a quad ruled landscape format writing pad, a one subject wire bound notebook in a delicious shade of pink, a 3 subject notebook in three different shades of paper, an environotes Sugarcane notebook, and an Elephant PooPoo Paper notebook.

Although I could sing the praises of all of these items, I ‘ve been asked to limit my comments to my three favorites. 

I first tried the Wide Landscape format writing pad.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a landscape format notebook, let alone actually used one until now.  Yet, I managed to find a perfect use for it.  I am studying for a major test to become licensed as a school librarian.  This weekend, I took a few practice tests.  The landscape format was perfect for this task, as I could number columns 1-25, which really helped me pace my progress and not feel overwhelmed.    I liked that I had plenty of room to get all columns on a single page, without flipping.  For certain organizational tasks, like multiple lists and note taking efforts, I could definitely see how the landscape design would be useful. 

The paper is super smooth and in my experience, did not show bleed through, even with my preferred felt-tip pens.  The pages are perforated at the top, which is both incredibly durable, yet also allows for clean and easy paper removal.

Working in education, I’ve often got my eyes on “a better mousetrap.”  I really like the Roaring Spring Wirebound three subject notebook.  The  front cover is a sturdy colorful vinyl, while the back cardboard cover is extra heavy/thick and durable.  The inside paper comes from 30% post-consumer recycled paper.  Although sometimes I’m not crazy about recycled papers—the can look dingy, feel gritty, or tear easily when an eraser is applied, none of these objections are a fault I find with this paper.  I love the three bright cheerful colors of each section that help divide the notebook.  I remember from my teaching days that there are students who do better with colored paper than white. If you could find less-traditional thinking teachers, the color coding would be a great way to help keep notes from different classes separate.

For my final review, I really need to say something about the Elephant PooPoo Paper.  Yes, you read that right, its paper made from Elephant dung.  Changing multiple cloth diapers on a daily basis quickly makes one an expert in PooPoo, and believe me, I was convinced there was nothing likable or cute about PooPoo, no matter what kind of cute name you give it.  Or so I thought, until I met this notebook.  Seriously, this notebook is made from post-elephant consumption fibers. If you’ve ever been to a zoo, you have no doubt that elephants are sufficiently equipped to produce tons of fiber-rich waste, perfect for paper making.   Bragging that they” take the oo out of poo,”  I’m actually very impressed with how ingenious this little notebook is.

First, let me clear any misconceptions that no, the notebook doesn’t stink.  It doesn’t even have a mild fragrance.  I love the cute little size.  I love the blank pages inside which seem to invite me to write something heartfelt and creative.  I love the handmade feeling texture of the paper.  The notebook is just too cute.  The whimsical flying elephant on the cover makes me smile. The novelty of its creation only adds to its overall charm.

Thank you once again to Shoplet for providing another amazing collection of products for review. If you'd love to give any of the products a whirl, shop online notebooks here!  

All products were provided in exchange for my fair and honest reviews.  I received no additional compensation than the products listed above. All opinions expressed herein are 100% my own.

Drinking Green--week 1

Smoothies that is.
Last Monday I began my effort to eat better.  I have been inspired by my recent review of Beth Aldrich's Real Moms Love to Eat book.  One challenge for week one is to drink green smoothies in place of your normal breakfast routine.
I've never been a morning shake kind of girl.  On the surface, it sounds a little counter-intuitive.  See, I usually ate cereal or toast, but I was starving by 10:00--not cool.  Drinking a shake sounded crazy since how could a liquid fill me up--it has no crunch, no substanance.  But you know me, I'm crazy enough to try anything once.  I figured I could give it a week since I didn't really have anything to lose.

Green smoothies are more than just your typical fruit and juice in a blender combo.  Per the recipe, I also add a scoop of protein powder (vanilla soy in my case) and green powder, and ground flax seed--all of which were purchased on a recent visit to my sister and the Whole Foods in Columbus. (Money saving tip on the flax seed-- I bought bulk whole flax seed at 2.99/lb and used my sister's coffee grinder to make ground flax seed for half the cost!)

Fall in Love with Food: Book Review-- Real Moms Love to Eat

Fact:  I need to eat better.
Fact: I want to eat better.
Fact: I make way to many excuses for why I don't eat better.

There was a time when I really loved to cook. I think this was especially true during the first year I moved into my own house.  I did all of my shopping--my trick for avoiding bad snack choices was simple--I didn't buy them.  This doesn't mean I didn't eat them, especially when going to my parents' house--but I didn't have them tempting me in my house.  I ate good and I felt great--without working too hard, I dropped 3-4 sizes over about a year or two span.  This was incredible for me, because I'd always been the same size since seventh grade no matter how much I tried to diet.

But I wasn't dieting, and I wasn't working out,  I was just eating better.  I loved food and I loved to cook too. I could spend an hour in Williams-Sonoma dreaming about new gourmet tools, drooling over their glossy colored recipe books and scheming excuses to make something new.  I felt like I was destined for true culinary genius--and did I mention I felt great.  I was fitting in to a new dress size for each major formal dance--which meant a regular rewarding shopping trip.  I was finally able to have a selection of dresses that would fit to choose from--instead of settling for the lesser of two evils because it was all they had in my size.

I regret to report that whatever I was doing right faded away.  It's hard to define the exact moment when things definitively began to take a turn for the worse. I think it all started when I became involved with some poor influences.   I started dating a guy who insisted on eating out regand cooking decadent foods--hello pumpkin ice cream.  My job became super stressful--the return of the anxious eating habits. The school I worked for closed and the idiot dumped me--more self-loathing and pity eating.
I moved in to an uninspiring apartment with a galley kitchen.  To make it worse--it was an hour drive to the nearest Williams-Sonoma (oh the humanity).   I worked late nights and was too tired to cook when I came home. Then I became pregnant and nothing sounded good or tasted good except Popsicle.  Since the baby, I have felt so drained when I get home from work that we settle for the over processed boxed foods.... Oh how this downward spiral compounded with baby fat I never lost has brought me back to that dreaded size I was back in seventh grade and all through high school and college.

I did love to eat--but now food is just something to fill the empty.  I've been so uninspired.  I think that's why I'm pinning some hope on Beth Aldrich's new book Real Moms Love to Eat How to Conduct  Love Affair with Food, Lose Weight and Feel Fabulous.  This isn't some fly-by-night diet fad.  It's really about returning that spark in your food romance by learning to fall in love with the right foods and lifestyle that will treat you like the person you know you want to be.

Lets Do Lunch #Review

I have packed my lunch for just about as long as I can remember.  In grade school, I could buy lunch, but only on special occasions.  It was a big deal when I got the privileged of buying.  In high school we were all too cool to buy the institutional school lunch--though I'd occasionally buy pizza or a bagel.  Packed lunches have always been a part of my life--with little or no fanfare about it.

When I was younger I had cool lunch boxes.  They featured Snoopy or Popples.  That was one of the exciting parts of  back to school shopping.  As we get older, the joy of the lunch box fades.  Colorful characters  a slowly replaced by solid colors, then brown paper. In my "professional" years, in an attempt to be slightly more green I stopped purchasing disposable brown paper bags and began reusing plastic grocery bags. Economical, green and very uninspiring.

That's why I am so beyond elated to have the opportunity to review a Built Gourmet Getaway Large Insulated Lunch Bag, French Bull Series in shadow flower from ReUseIt.com.  This is quite possibly the cutest lunch bag I've had in my life for a very, very long time.  No more embarrassingly practical grocery bag for me!  

Granola Goodness

 

I know I shouldn’t snack, but I do.  I try to be good.  With little temptation at work, I’m usually  a little better at controlling my impulse to munch.  But when I get home, look out.  I walk in the door and hit the cupboard. I’ve notice my son is becoming a snacker too. He’s a constant mooch.  If anyone is eating, he needs to be eating too.  And I admit this is a bad habit for him to inherit. 

Recently we’ve had a chance to sample Nature’s Hand Granola.  I know what you’re thinking—granola is typically high in sugar and preservatives.  If it's not high in sugar, it's typically low in taste, so why bother. Not true with Nature’s Hand—just 6 grams per serving from brown sugar and honey.  I also like that all the ingredients are 100% natural.  There are no artificial preservatives, colors or flavor.  Full of whole grain oats and wheat, as well as sunflower seeds, Nature’s Hand Granola packs a lot of nutritious fiber in a small hand full.